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During the past several years, Laredo’s retail sector has experienced tremendous growth. With the continued development of the Bob Bullock Loop (Loop 20) that connects I-35 to South Laredo, retail stores and restaurants are finding this major roadway to be an attractive alternative to the existing I-35 corridor.
Up to this point, the major retail corridor in Laredo has been I-35, which serves the Mexican shoppers as they visit Laredo from Nuevo Laredo and Monterrey. However, since the development of Loop 20, a shift in retail clusters along the loop has brought in local shoppers and growing number of Mexican shoppers.
• Weingarten Real Estate Investment Trust now owns and operates three shopping centers in Laredo, all anchored by HEB. Its third and most recent acquisition, Independence Plaza, was purchased from San Isidro Ranch. The property, designed by Madeline Slay Architecture, has the only HEB plus! in Laredo as well as Ross Dress for Less and other junior anchor retailers.
• The City of Laredo recently sold 79 acres across from Laredo International Airport off Loop 20 to Laredo Town Center LP. The property will be developed into a shopping center.
• To help revitalize downtown, a public-private partnership between the City of Laredo and the Horizon Group Inc. was formed to bring in an outlet center. Plans are to redevelop the old River Drive Mall, which was built back in the ’70s along the banks of the Rio Grande.
The Horizon Group plans to develop the outlet center to provide the Mexican shopper with first-class shopping in Laredo. The mall should relieve the Mexican shoppers’ need to travel further into Texas. The first phase will total 350,000 square feet and add 1,200 permanent jobs and 1,600 seasonal jobs.
• Killam Development Ltd. has just finished construction of the 70,000-square-foot first phase of their projected 350,000-square-foot Paseo Casa Blanca Shopping Center. The shopping center is conveniently located off Loop 20 between Highway 59 and Clark Blvd. Nearby are a Wal-mart Supercenter and Target. Conns Home Plus will anchor this first phase of Paseo Casa Blanca with a 40,000-square-foot store scheduled to open in mid-November this year.
• In addition, Killam Development is committed to developing a family-friendly experience at Paseo Casa Blanca. The shopping center will have green space and playgrounds, and a common recreational area will be centered so restaurant patrons can have outdoor facilities to enjoy being outside. Hickey Peña Architects designed the center and infused the hacienda motif of South Texas and Northern Mexico. Vallecillo stone and talavera tile imported from Mexico were used to bring this out.
• Killam Development is starting to pre-lease phase 2 and will target junior anchor retailers that are looking for a “sense of place.” The Killam family, which has been developing real estate in Laredo for almost 30 years.
Retail along Loop 20 is taking form, and the local shoppers are beginning to have more exciting and vibrant options to meet their shopping needs.
— Rolando Ortiz, real estate development manager, Killam Development